The massive rune shone with an ancient violet light, so deep it seemed to pull the soul inward.
Seraphiel folded his wings, alert.
Celestine stepped back, sensing that this energy did not come from the gods…
nor from any ordinary human.
The ground split into cracks, and a figure wrapped in black cloaks rose from the center.
His face was hidden, but his voice echoed as though a hundred versions of it were speaking at once:
"Both of you will destroy this fortress if you continue. And I need it intact."
The soldiers — the few still conscious — retreated even farther.
Leonhardt whispered to himself:
"Who… is that man?"
Celestine did not feel fear.
She felt familiarity.
As if she had seen him in another life.
The figure approached slowly, and the seal beneath his feet glowed with each step.
Seraphiel raised his spear again.
"Identify yourself. The Heavens do not recognize your seal."
The hooded man laughed — a short, raspy sound.
"Of course they don't. You burned my name from the records eight hundred years ago."
Celestine's eyes widened.
"Eight hundred…?"
He turned his head toward her.
"Yes, little bearer. I existed long before you… and long before the empire that condemned you."
Seraphiel lunged forward, irritated.
"Renegade sorcerer. I should have erased you when I had the chance."
"You tried," the man replied, pointing to his own throat.
"I still feel the scar from your judgment."
Celestine couldn't hold back:
"Who are you?"
The figure lifted a hand and touched his hood.
"Many names were given to me.
— Traitor.
— Demon.
— Survivor.
And the most accurate:
Guardian of the Forbidden Seal."
The hood fell.
Revealing a man with pale skin, long silver hair, and eyes that were not human — eyes formed entirely of spinning ancient runes.
Leonhardt instinctively stepped back.
"You… you're not fully human…"
"Not since the last divine war," the man said.
"And it was there that I discovered something the Heavens fear more than the Void itself."
He looked directly at Celestine.
"What you are."
Seraphiel struck the ground with his spear of light.
"Say another word and—!"
The forbidden seal reacted, forming a barrier that blocked the advance of the light.
The silver-haired man sighed.
"You archangels are far too predictable."
Celestine stepped forward.
"What am I?"
He studied her like someone examining an ancient riddle.
"You were born from the broken cycle.
A being who should not have returned.
The only soul capable of uniting light and void without being destroyed."
The wind froze.
The entire fortress seemed to listen.
"You," he continued, "are the Original Sin."
The title echoed in her spirit like thunder.
Celestine tightened her fingers.
"That makes no sense. I'm not a weapon. Or some forbidden entity."
The man smiled — and it was a sad smile.
"Of course not. You're a person.
But what lives within you… has destroyed entire kingdoms.
And now it awakens again."
Seraphiel shouted, furious:
"She is a threat. The world must be protected from her!"
The Guardian turned to him, visibly tired.
"The world needs to be protected from the gods. For centuries they've abused the natural order."
Celestine felt the air grow even heavier.
"And why… why help me?"
The man opened his hands.
The runes in his eyes glowed brighter.
"Because when the Void awakens fully, you will be the only one capable of stopping the end.
And if you die now… there will be no second chance."
Seraphiel roared:
"Madness! She is the ruin of the heavens!"
The Guardian looked straight at Celestine.
"Choose, bearer.
Flee with me now…
or face an archangel who will not stop until he drags you to the divine tribunal."
Her heart was racing.
Leonhardt stepped closer.
"Celestine… whatever you choose, I'm going with you."
She looked at Seraphiel.
His wings shimmered with enough power to wipe the continent clean.
She looked at the Guardian.
A man scarred by a war she had yet to understand.
And she looked at herself.
The Void pulsed, waiting for her decision.
She took a deep breath.
"I choose…"
And her decision — the one that will shape the future of the entire story —
(continues…)